Bourgeois could not improve on the title of this excellent book. The title immediately establishes the scope of the task he wrestles with in the five parts of this comprehensive study of persons. It is a book devoted to one person, but important for all persons. It is a book which strives to come to grips with one of the central problems in the long history of philosophy. The problem: What is a person? Many theories have been offered over time to answer that question:

·The soul theory--your essence is your soul or mind, understood as a nonphysical entity distinct from your body. Descartes came to think of the mind as the vehicle of continuity because of his observation that if an individual loses several body parts he/she is still the same person. What is the same? The person's mind (or soul).

·Materialism--you are essentially the material that you are made out of--a collection of molecules, largely water molecules, and carbon based.

·Narrative -- you are your story; personal persistence is a function of a narrative structure, your story of being-in-the world with all of its complexities and relationships with others.

·The no self view--your self is an illusion. The "I" is a grammatical fiction (Nietzsche). There are bundles of impressions but no underlying self (Hume). There is no survival because there is no person (Buddha).

The significance of the problem: the way we answer this seemingly simple question will have an impact on life and death, on distribution of scarce resources, and on the way we define the good life. For example, think of abortion and euthanasia. It seems we cannot think about one without thinking about the other. Perhaps the best way out of the thicket of beliefs and opinions is to consider just what personhood is.

1. Some human beings are not persons.2. Some persons are not human beings.3. Persons have rights and responsibilities.4. Persons have moral obligations to other persons.5. Persons have different obligations to non-persons.

If we could determine a "definition" of death we might be able to more clearly determine a definition of personhood. And then we should be able to apply that concept to abortion and euthanasia. In the recent murder of a late term abortion doctor in the USA, the wife of the murder suspect explained to a reporter "The man I married disappeared into this other person." We do in ordinary language use 'person' in the sense that Ms. Roeder did when speaking of her husband Scott Roeder after he had been charged with the murder of Dr. Tiller. We also know that other species "are inching toward obtaining the same legal rights as humans." A court case in Austria may declare a chimp a person "so the animal could have a legal guardian and funds for upkeep. The European Court of Human Rights is considering an appeal in the case of Matthew Hiasl Pan, a 28-year-old chimp from Austria." [Source]

So, the complex problem Bourgeois confronts includes moral, legal, and philosophical aspects of the concept of person. He approaches this difficult task by telling us first of the loss of his wife, called Daphne in the book since "Daphne in Greek mythology suffers a somewhat parallel tragedy." He writes in the introduction, "My topics -- the nature of persons and personal identity -- are for Daphne shot through with significance. … Daphne was a brilliant philosopher teaching at the University of British Columbia where I was on a post-doctoral fellowship. We became inseparable. …we came to know each other's hearts and minds so well that we could often dispense with spoken communication. We were married in August of 1985. In October of that year, Daphne suffered a massive attack of multiple sclerosis. After nearly a year of attacks and remissions, in August 1986, Daphne passed for the last time beneath the dark archway that separates those who can intelligibly express their wishes from those who cannot."

The book is divided into five parts:

Philosophical Background

Ancient Philosophers' Views on Persons

Modern Philosophers' Views on Persons

Contemporary Philosophers' Views on Persons

My Suggestions for Ways to See Ourselves

Each chapter within the five parts presents a discussion of the main points of the philosophers being studied, followed by a set of questions on the content, arguments for analysis both pro and con, as well as an application of the position presented in the chapter to the case of Daphne. How would such a position, if adopted, relate to the care and treatment of Daphne in her severe illness. This strategy is excellent for developing ongoing discussion of the key concepts in an always existential setting. These concepts are not just empty talk, but apply to the human condition in the real case of a loved one.

Bourgeois' own position is essentialist but rooted in a real world analysis and sympathy for the many situations we humans find ourselves in from time to time. Daphne is always present as you read and think about personhood. And you are Daphne. Bourgeois introduces two technical terms to buttress his concept of person. First a viewline, which "refers to the series of viewpoints throughout a person's life," and second viewpoints, which "are subjectively known places from which we seem to ourselves to be getting our sensations and perceptions of the world outside of our minds." The source for these definitions is the glossary at the end of the book, a most useful addition.

This is an excellent book for classroom use, but do not let that assessment negatively influence you as general reader, for it is well written, accessible, spirited, at times moving, and always instructive.

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